


The Mysterious Red Fox

by literaryoblivion



Series: Freck's Inktober [14]
Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Historical, Alternate Universe - Victorian, Costume Parties & Masquerades, Fluff, Identity Reveal, Kissing, Love Confessions, M/M, Masks, Victorian
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-15
Updated: 2018-10-15
Packaged: 2019-08-02 10:34:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,232
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16303523
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/literaryoblivion/pseuds/literaryoblivion
Summary: Lord Derek Hale continues to attend masquerades to meet with the mysterious Red Fox, and he hopes that tonight he can convince the red fox to reveal who he is because Derek is in love and needs to know his lover's name.





	The Mysterious Red Fox

He’s really only going to stay out for a few minutes, but the weather is so nice outside, much cooler than the stuffy ballroom filled with aristocrats schmoozing for land or titles. He can’t stand going to these things, but his sisters needed an escort and dragged him a long. He also had his personal reasons for going: he was hoping to see a certain person again, maybe ask his identity behind the mask, steal another kiss…

Having masquerades was getting overdone to be quite honest, but every Lordship and Lady thought they could put on a grander one than the last, so they kept happening. Some were better than others, and this one was proving to be more lavish, taking place in some borrowed castle. 

Many of the same people got invited, and some would have a new and different extravagant mask and outfit than the last. Derek though keeps his simple, a blue overcoat that, he’d been told on multiple occasions, brings out his eyes, and a matching blue wolf’s mask. Sometimes he would change it up with a different patterned cravat, darker pants, but the coat and mask remains.

He wasn’t the only one that wore staple pieces every masquerade, of course. His mysterious red fox always wore a long red overcoat and an intricate fox mask. He’d met him at one of the first masquerades; Derek had stepped out for some fresh air and had literally bumped into him in his rush to escape the room. 

The man had laughed as Derek had apologized and then made a joke about how he understood Derek’s hurry. They had spent only a few minutes together outside exchanging pleasantries, before the red fox took his leave. But the rest of the night, all Derek could think about was that laugh, his bright smile, the long lashes visible beneath his mask, the smooth brown eyes. The vision had haunted him, and he knew he had to meet the man again.

And he had. The red fox had been at every masquerade that Derek was at, and every time they met, their conversations grew longer, though the red fox never removed his mask and never revealed who he was beneath it (though Red Fox knew Derek and his face after the second masquerade). It made Derek long to know his full visage even more. And though Derek could catch glimpses of the red fox throughout the night in the ballroom, the red fox only ever approached Derek when Derek was outside alone.

Derek hopes the pattern would continue while he steps out on to the terrace and looks out at the garden. He only has to wait for a moment.

“I thought I’d find you out here,” a voice says behind him.

Derek turns and smiles. “I was waiting for you.”

The red fox smiles. “Me? When you have a room full of lovely people inside?”

Derek rolls his eyes, making Red Fox laugh. God, that laugh.

“You weren’t waiting long, were you?” Red Fox asks, stepping up so he is beside Derek, their arms brushing before he starts down the steps to the garden, Derek keeping pace beside him.

“No, but I’d wait eons for you,” Derek says, stopping and turning to face Red Fox, who does the same. He can see a slight blush along Red Fox’s cheeks, the tips of his ears.

“Eons? That seems like such a long time, a waste of your handsomeness,” Red Fox replies, lifting a hand to brush Derek’s jaw. 

Derek catches Red Fox’s hand before he can take it away and presses closer to him. “Please tell me your name,” Derek says, eyes and voice pleading. “I must know who you are. Won’t you tell me?”

Red Fox’s eyes cut to the side, his mouth down turned. “Derek, I…”

“Please?” Derek begs, desperate, almost ready to get on his knees for the answer.

“What if you’re disappointed?” Red Fox looks to the castle and back to Derek.  “What if I’m not who you want? What if I’m a commoner pretending to be wealthy?”

Derek bites his lip in thought; he hadn’t considered that to be the reason Red Fox keeps his mask on. Though it did make sense. Then he thinks about how he would feel, what would happen. Would he still like him, want to pursue a relationship? Maybe Red Fox was only doing this for Derek’s fortune, tricking him to fall in love, only to steal his money along with his heart.

But, Derek knows the Red Fox, and even though he doesn’t know his name, he trusts him, knows about how much he cares about his father, how much he misses his late mother, protects his best friend. That’s not someone who would swindle Derek for his inheritance.

“I trust you,” Derek finally says, “and if that were true, that you are indeed lower class and common, I wouldn’t care. I have enough status for the both of us.”

Red Fox smiles, his eyes fond as he stares at Derek. “Well, what if I were the one with the higher class. What if I’m the prince of Denmark and you’re the foreign commoner?”

Derek grins, “Than I would hope you’d talk me up to your royal parents so they could accept me, and I’d expect an extravagant wedding present from you.”

Red Fox laughs loud, a full belly laugh, and Derek loves seeing it, loves being able to make him laugh like that. “I assure you, the present would be worthy of you.”

“So, it’s agreed then,” Derek says, pressing closer to Red Fox, a hand on his hip, “we’re getting married. What am I changing my name to?”

Their eyes lock, and Derek hopes that Red Fox can see how serious he is through the jokes, how very much in love he is and willing to do or accept just about anything, wealthy, poor, or royalty.

Slowly, Red Fox brings his hands to the ties of his mask, pulling them loose and slowly lifting the mask from his face. 

Once it is completely off, held limply in his hand, Derek’s eyes widen in recognition.

“Stiles,” he says, breathless as he stares in awe. He’d known Stiles years before, but after the war, he’d lost track of him. He had heard rumors of a Lord Stilinski recently, but had never thought it could be the same person. The rumors also talked of Lord Stilinski earning his money overseas by questionable means, which meant that while Stiles was not a commoner nor royalty, he was still not quite accepted by current society.

But, quite frankly, Derek doesn’t give a shit about them.

“Are you… upset, Lord Hale?” Stiles asks hesitantly, biting his lower lip. Derek touches his face, using his thumb to tug Stiles’ lip free from his teeth.

“Not in the slightest. I’m exceedingly happy.” Derek can feel Stiles’s smile grow. “You shouldn’t call me that, though,” Derek adds.

Puzzled, Stiles furrows his brow. “I don’t--”

Derek cuts him off, “I’m soon to be Lord Stilinski, you know. Should get used to using that name.”

The smile on Stiles’s face is blinding, and he throws himself into Derek, pushing up Derek’s mask before kissing him.

“I love you, Stiles,” Derek whispers against his lips when they break apart.

“I love you, Derek,” then catching himself he adds, “I mean, Lord Stilinski.”

**Author's Note:**

> Come say hi on [my tumblr](http://literaryoblivion.tumblr.com) and [my twitter](http://twitter.com/lit_oblivion).


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